# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
[Spoiler alert: The following post discusses major plot points from the last two episodes of "Orange Is the New Black" season 4. Do not read until you've finished the season.]

Fans of " Orange is the New Black "weren't the only ones devastated by Poussey Washington's untimely death in the penultimate episode of season 4.

In a new Netflix clip posted to YouTube, Samira Wiley, who portrayed the fallen Poussey, tearfully reflected on the death of her beloved character.

"I'm the person that gives life to this character but, you know, let's say I'm pulling myself away from it... I think it's going to be devastating," Wiley said in the video.

Wiley also discussed the public's reaction to Poussey's fate.

"Because people are so invested in this show, and some of these things will happen to characters that they have, over the past four years, gotten to know and love, it makes it so personal," she said.

Matthew Weiner, who directed the episode, expressed Poussey's impact in an interview last week.

"We lose this person who is really an innocent, at the hands of an innocent, there's a double tragedy there," Weiner said.

Danielle Brooks (Taystee on OITNB and Wiley's on- and off-screen best friend) discussed the difficulties of filming Poussey's tragic death.

"I remember talking to [Weiner] and saying, 'I have to be honest, I can't do this over and over again. Yes, I'm trained as an actor, I went to school for this and all of that. But this is not something I can do over and over again,'" Brooks said.

Brooks also took her grief to Twitter in a touching post featuring herself and Wiley.

Poussey's death is seen as an allegory for the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as the challenges black Americans face on a daily basis.

"And now we get to have a voice and say listen, 'this is the world that we live in, we're telling this story for the lost, the last, the least, the left behind, the looked over.' That's who we're telling this story for," Brooks said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
'Orange Is the New Black' Cast Reacts to That Shocking Death in Season 4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Spoiler alert: The following post discusses major plot points from the last two episodes of "Orange Is the New Black" season 4. Do not read until you've finished the season.] Fans of " Orange is the New Black "weren't the only ones devastated by Poussey Washington's untimely death in the penultimate episode of season 4.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Orange is the new Black [4x13] Final Scene [Legendado]

# data[].attributes.headline
Will season 5 carry the same storylines? 

# data[].attributes.subject
Will season 5 carry the same storylines? 

# data[].attributes.body
SPOILER ALERT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If you're still finishing season four of Orange Is the New Black - seriously? - and you care about spoilers, you might want to rethink reading the rest of this post. Having said that, there's nothing too revealing about season five details. The last season of the hit series premiered on Netflix in June of last year, and we are hurtling toward the release date. Here's what we know - and what we can deduce - about season five.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Everything We Know About Orange Is the New Black Season 5

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you're still finishing season four of Orange Is the New Black - seriously? - and you care about spoilers, you might want to rethink reading the rest of this post. Having said that, there's nothing too revealing about season five details.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Critic's Notebook

The following essay discusses plot points throughout Season 4 of "Orange Is the New Black," available in its entirety on Netflix.
The fourth season of "Orange Is the New Black" takes the series' theme song - "You've Got Time," by Regina Spektor - more literally than ever.

Any prison story is focused on time: doing it, counting it. But this season, time becomes concrete, in the form of a cardboard and foil "time machine" that the mentally unsettled Lolly (Lori Petty) builds in Litchfield prison. It's a box inside a box, a hide-out and refuge.

Finding Lolly sitting inside this symbol, Healy (Michael Harney), the prison counselor, gives her a well-meaning, paternalistic speech. "Everyone wants to go back in time sometimes," he says. "But it's not possible. All we can do is make the most of right now."

"I've tried that," Lolly says. "But traveling back in time just seemed more, you know, feasible."

Yes, being able to change your past is a fantasy. But, argues this furious, jam-packed and (eventually) very good season, so is the homiletic idea that you can simply turn things around by focusing on the now - especially if you're spending that now in a place that encourages the worst and squashes the best.

Image

Lori Petty Credit JoJo Whilden/Netflix

(Speaking of things that can't be undone: spoilers for the full season lie ahead. This is your last warning, inmate.)

The season's story drive comes from another lyric in that theme song: "The animals" - the phrase that gives the title to the 12th and best episode - "trapped, trapped, trapped 'til the cage is full." Prison means having all kinds of time and very little space, and there's even less of the latter to go around now.

That's because Litchfield prison, run by the for-profit company MCC, is being crammed with more women, for "30 grand per head in a bed," as an executive describes the government payout. It's a mercenary operation, now staffed by mercenaries - ex-military correctional officers who see themselves as an occupying force.

The show's creator, Jenji Kohan, and her writers have a lot to say about the prison-industrial complex, and more besides. The season echoes the rise of alt-right white-supremacist politics as Piper (Taylor Schilling) finds her "task force" becoming a racist gang, and the death of Poussey (the luminous Samira Wiley) pointedly recalls the Eric Garner chokehold case.

But while the resonances are blaring, the characters are complex. The dynamic between Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning) and the corrections officer Coates (James McMenamin) is a lesson in treating rape as an act with lasting repercussions, as she decides to forgive him for her own sake and he wavers between guilt and denial. It's messy - it's deeply uncomfortable to see her kiss him - but believable for each character.

The new celebrity inmate, Judy King (Blair Brown), is another "Orange" character who simultaneously defies and lives up to type. She's down to earth - but not so much that she'll refuse a private room. She has a racist past, yet her contrived-for-the-tabloids smooch with Black Cindy (Adrienne Moore) leads to real, if fraught, camaraderie.

Samira Wiley, left, and Blair Brown in "Orange Is the New Black." Credit JoJo Whilden/Netflix

Like Litchfield, "Orange" has taken on a lot of bodies. The mammoth cast allows it a true diversity few series manage. Poussey's death, for instance, came after fans have protested other series for killing off a spate of other gay characters, often after a teasing moment of happiness. (Poussey had just settled into a relationship with Soso, played by Kimiko Glenn.) But unlike most other series, this one is still teeming with important, well-drawn L.G.B.T.Q. characters.

The show has rotated its deep bench, letting some characters recede and others step forward. Laverne Cox's Sophia has a limited, though harrowing, arc in solitary confinement this season, while Laura Gómez finds the coal-eyed intensity in the newly revolutionary Blanca.

Still, the drive to service dozens of characters leaves a lot of plot to juggle. Like many Netflix series, "Orange" could easily stand to be cut by 25 percent - though, granted, any given viewer would probably choose a different 25 percent.

But midway through, the season comes into focus as the conflict with the guards, under the harsh Officer Piscatella (Brad William Henke), becomes not just dysfunctional but terrifying. The last two of the 13 episodes are so remarkable as to raise an aesthetic question for the age of slow-build streaming shows: Do you measure the quality of a TV season as a beginning-to-end average or by how well it ends?

By the first yardstick, Season 4 is ambitious but uneven; by the latter, it's the series' best. The words of the ineffectual Warden Caputo (Nick Sandow), "This place crushes anything good," come true, as the most reluctant participant in the prisoners' fateful antagonism ends up suffocated by Litchfield's meekest guard, Bayley (Alan Aisenberg), and the most vicious - for now, at least - prosper.

It all leads to a riot - a sharp contrast with the hopeful chaos of Season 3's prison break at the lake - and Dayanara (Dascha Polanco) clutching a gun in the hand that used to hold her drawing pen. You see something shift in her once-daydreamy eyes, and maybe in the series itself (which has at least three seasons left). This seems to be going somewhere new, and not somewhere uplifting.

For uplift, you can only look back. The time machine returns one more time in the finale, as Leanne (Emma Myles) and Angie (Julie Lake) drunkenly decide that it's bad luck and tear it to bits. Poussey, meanwhile, gets a posthumous flashback that leaves her at the end of a charmed night in New York City, smiling and full of seeming possibility. She can't travel back in time. But at least we can.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Season 4 of 'Orange Is the New Black': It's About Time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Critic's Notebook The following essay discusses plot points throughout Season 4 of "Orange Is the New Black," available in its entirety on Netflix. The fourth season of "Orange Is the New Black" takes the series' theme song - "You've Got Time," by Regina Spektor - more literally than ever.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ever since Newton Minow, then chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, accused television of being a 'vast wasteland," media analysts have debated whether television indeed has any redeeming social value.

Television has changed considerably since Minow's statement, and many formerly taboo subjects are now treated openly, even on prime-time. Compared to the insipid content of the early days of television, today's programming is often bold and provocative, with society the better for millions of viewers having experienced the anguish of marriage to a man who is violently abusive ( The Burning Bed), the tragic consequences of incest ( Something About Amelia), or the potential devastation of nuclear war ( The Day After). Nevertheless, Minow's assessment still haunts us.

Norman Lear is generally credited with having stimulated the shift to "socially relevant" television programming. His lovable bigot. Archie Bunker, paved the way in the early seventies not only to a new kind of television comedy, but to programming that could cover controversial issues of personal and social significance Maude's abortion, Edith's rape. Meathead's anti-war activism.

With the advent of "ensemble shows" like Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere, continuing dramatic series began to incorporate more gritty realism into plots and characters. Now not only do physicians treat disease in others, on St. Elsewhere they become patients themselves, Cops not only confront crime in the streets, but Mary Beth Lacey has her house robbed and her colleague Izbecki buys illegal drugs to ease the lingering death of his much-loved mother. On such programs viewers see the intricacy of human suffering and the complexity of values decisions, as well as the complications of relationships among characters whose values and backgrounds differ - sometimes even clash.

However, it is in the long-form features - the made-for-television movies and mini-series - where social issues have been handled most effectively. Although many laugh at the disease of the week" syndrome, still, done with passion and compassion, a two-hour (or more) drama has the time and the talent (along with the budget) to create a dramatic experience that can be both profound and challenging for the viewer.

Learning to Cope

I believe, in fact, that many extraordinary television productions have served at least to set the national agenda regarding many confusing social issues. No one can know or understand all the causes of teenage suicide or the mysterious progress of Alzheimer's disease. Yet both can touch lives suddenly and tragically. For many adult Americans, prime-time television is the only "continuing education" available to learn to cope with contemporary crises. Entertainment programs may or may not be profound. But they are socially useful for many millions of people.

I am, however, drawn to a deeper question - and a deeper reflection. It has to do with what kinds of issues are handled, even the ones that are handled "well." I do not have to be a sociologist to see that there are basically two kinds of problems confronting us or any society:

Personal-social problems are primarily person-centered, that is, they consist of extraordinary circumstances that affect individuals or individual units of society - usually, crises in relationships or health. Every year the list gets longer but includes rape, spouse abuse, missing children, teen suicide, anorexia, cancer, AIDS, drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, etc.

Such problems - although personal in nature - become problems for society as a whole when the sheer quantity of persons affected challenges our ability to provide both understanding and assistance to those involved.

Social-political issues include those more global concerns which can, indeed, affect individuals, but which individuals - by themselves - cannot begin to handle: the arms race, the impact of the world debt, racism-and sexism, the effects of colonialism in developing nations, homelessness, and so on.

To confront these kinds of issues requires commitment by individuals, institutions and governments; they also generally call into question the established social, political, cultural and economic structures of society.

Now a survey of television of the 80s indicates that the social issues that television generally handles are primarily the ones that fall under the personal-social category. This is easily rationalized since the very nature of these issues makes them coverable as somebody's story. Defenders of television are quick to remind one that this is so and will always be so, because television is a business and its task is not to create a social conscience in the viewing public, but to deliver an audience to its advertisers. To maximize this potential, television needs entertainment, and entertainment, if it is to hold the attention of the audience, requires a story about people caught up in conflict, adventure or romance that moves in clear dramatic progress from beginning to middle to end. Stories, it is true, are the very stuff of television.
"All television is educational."
- Nicholas Johnson
And it is also true that millions and millions of people form their vision of social reality primarily by the kinds of stories they see day after day on television.

Despite protestations that television "just entertains," even the public knows it does more than that. In the past months, media leaders have acknowledged responsibility for media's role in a major social problem: drug use. Film and television representatives have voluntarily agreed to monitor more carefully the images they present of drug use and abuse. In doing so, the industry admitted that it knows it has power to do more than create laughs and sell automobiles. Television is one of the mirrors by which Americans view themselves and their society. By watching and listening over months and years, one learns to act - with a conscience or without.

Not that we haven't occasionally seen entertaining stories that incorporated a larger worldview. There was, after all, The Day After. M*A*S*H offered profound episodes on the futility of war and, most recently, Cagney and Lacey confronted the dilemma of apartheid when the team was assigned to protect a South African marathon runner.

But it is not enough.

It is not enough because by experiencing only a world of personal-social problems, TV viewers are left with a false sense of the relative importance of the issues facing our society and each of us as members of that society, and as inhabitants of the planet. It is not enough because focusing primarily on individuals overcoming personal obstacles distorts the truth of the real world where there are forces beyond the living room - or bedroom - that are conspiring toward massive economic and political exploitation and, even, global annihilation.

Some will argue that, given the entertainment role of prime-time television, serious global issues are best left to PBS documentaries, the news, history books or perhaps as the subject of critically acclaimed theatrical films - Testament for example, or Missing or Platoon.

The fact that serious films often find their way to prime-time television a few years later serves to underscore the real reason behind this argument - television is, by its very nature, timid.

Following the Leader

Gary David Goldberg relates how he once pitched an idea for a network series about a group of press people stationed in Vietnam. It would have had the usual motley crew of characters and poignant but pointed drama, perhaps not unlike the highly popular M*A*S*H. But he proposed the series in the late 1970s, and the network turned it down flat. The reality of Vietnam was still too near, he was told.

M*A*S*H is clearly the most exceptional series on the issues of war and peace. Still, the setting was the Korean War - long before most current U.S. TV watchers were born. In the worldview of commercial television in the l970s it was acceptable to do a series set in Korea, but not in Vietnam. In Korea, remember, we didn't suffer the same losses. Because television - as a business more than an art form - is integrally intertwined with the capitalist economy, to challenge the economic and political system that glues capitalism together is potentially to bite the very hand that feeds it. It is not only easier then, but politically safer, to commission a two-hour movie on AIDS or even incest than one on the destruction of indigenous cultures in the Third World resulting from the aggressive marketing of consumer products to countries that can barely build and sustain a subsistence economy.

As members of the human family, we must not be lulled into complacency by easy public service issues - whether on television or in everyday life. Frankly, I believe that the most significant values question facing us today is not one of personal sexuality but rather economic justice: What kind of world do we create when the rich just get richer while the poor don't count? Unless television can make clear the economic, cultural and political meanings behind social conditions, then all of its docudramas and socially relevant sitcoms will be "like sounding brass and tinkling cymbals."

Of course, the reply from the creative community will be that this is "not anybody's story." But I just cannot believe that somewhere in Hollywood there is not a drama waiting to be written - or that possibly already has been written but is sitting on the shelf - about the questions someone is feeling about their part in contributing to the economic exploitation of, for instance, women factory workers in the Orient by the same multinational corporations that are the biggest advertisers on U.S. network television.

I doubt, however, that it will ever get on prime-time.

And until it does, I don't think we can really talk about how "well" television handles the social issues of our day.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Well Does Television Handle Social Issues?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ever since Newton Minow, then chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, accused television of being a 'vast wasteland," media analysts have debated whether television indeed has any redeeming social value. Television has changed considerably since Minow's statement, and many formerly taboo subjects are now treated openly, even on prime-time.

# data[].attributes.body
The location and details on Orange is the New Black's ficitonal prision

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Our readers have been eating up our roundup of film locations for the hit Netflix show Orange Is the New Black, but we wanted to share more in detail about the semi-abandoned Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center, which serves as the exterior film set of Orange Is The New Black. The locale combines two of our favorite things: urban exploration and film locations. In fact, Untapped Cities reader James Garcia, a filmmaker and paranormal investigator, headed back to Orangeburg, New York this past weekend on our suggestion to capture more shots of both the set area and the creepy abandoned buildings-he's been filming this complex for quite some time. If you're a fan of the show, you'll recognize many spots.

Filmed inside the barbed wire protected walls are many scenes of the Litchfield inmates during their recreational activities:

The benches and canopy on the left are often featured, as the inmates socially gather. In the third season, it's where showdown between Red and Tastee's crew takes place, after they steal the corn from the garden:

You can see the many warning signs in the background in many scenes in Orange Is The New Black, added as props for the set:

A guard tower:

Below is a tool shed, but not the shed where Red and team do their gardening, and where Alex Vause gets confronted by Aydin, a man from her drug dealing past who gets hired as a CO in the last episode of season 3.

In the background you can also see glimpses of Lake Tappan, which borders the facility. It appears the actual lake scene, where the inmates are playing in the water after making their escape through the open fence, was likely filmed somewhere else as the shoreline is less rocky than in the show.

This is the long walkway into and out of Litchfield, where the new innates (which seemingly may double the population here) are dropped off:

You'll recognize the distinctive white and brick window patterning from the background of scenes in the show:

Stay tuned tomorrow for a feature on Garcia's photographs of the abandoned portion of Rockland Psychiatric Center.
Next, see the full list of Orange is the New Black Film Locations. Explore the haunted explorations of James Garcia on his My Haunted Diary YouTube channel.
abandoned, Film Locations, Orange is the New Black

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
NY Film Locations: Orange is the New Black Exterior Set at Rockland Psychiatric Center

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our readers have been eating up our roundup of film locations for the hit Netflix show Orange Is the New Black, but we wanted to share more in detail about the semi-abandoned Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center, which serves as the exterior film set of Orange Is The New Black.

# data[].attributes.headline
Who's the creator of Orange is the New Black?

# data[].attributes.subject
Who's the creator of Orange is the New Black?

# data[].attributes.body
Details on the creator of this series

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
From Emmy Award-winner Jenji Kohan, creator of the hit comedy series , comes the 13-episode dramedy, Orange is the New Black, available through Netflix on July 11 th. Based on the popular memoir of the same name by Piper Kerman, the series stars Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman, an engaged Brooklynite whose decade-old relationship with international drug-runner Alex ( Laura Prepon) results in her arrest and year-long detention in federal prison. Piper trades her comfortable New York life with her fiancé ( Jason Biggs) for an orange prison jumpsuit, and is quickly forced to question everything she knows while she serves her time, surrounded by an eccentric and outspoken group of inmates.

During both a roundtable interview at the show's press day and a conference call to promote the series, show creator Jenji Kohan talked about why she wanted to do this project at Netflix, why the book appealed to her, how much research she did into prison life, getting to explore so many different types of women, why she wanted to include humor in the story, the graphic sex scenes, how Jodie Foster ended up directing an episode, the Regina Spektor theme song, her reaction to already being picked up for Season 2, and the other shows she's currently developing, including a pilot at HBO. Check out what she had to say after the jump.

Question: Coming from Showtime, where you didn't have any network restrictions, what made you decide to go to Netflix with this series?
JENJI KOHAN: Well, I spent a lot of time at the networks before Showtime. I want to be there first. It's the next frontier. It's how my kids watch TV, and it's how I'm watching TV more. I remember one of my writers on Weeds got a new apartment and didn't get cable or a dish. He just hooked his computer up to the TV. I was like, "This is it. This is how it's happening." To be able to be there first, I love the pioneer thing. It's exciting to me. And they pay full rate, they're really nice, they support the work, and they said yes. What could be bad? It's the Wild West. You can do what you want. On the other hand, we worked a year on this and some people are going to watch it in a night and go, "We want more!" And there is something I miss about the longing and the anticipation for the next episode. But, how many times can you get exactly what you want, when you want it? Not very often. So, why not have it with entertainment? That's what it's fun. It's fun! I find that's how I'm watching, more and more. My kids go on binges, and I get sucked in. And then, it's the middle of the night and they're late for school, the next day.
Did you approach this show differently than Weeds, knowing that it would possibly be binge-watched, and not delivered in the normal once-a-week format? Did that change the way you framed your narrative?
KOHAN: It didn't for a season because we were just trying to craft our episodes and get done. I'd like to think about it a little more in Season 2, but not too much because it seemed to work, the first time around. I think a good story, well told is a good story, well told, whether you're watching the episodes all in a row or not. However, it might be fun to take a closer look at how the previous episode ends and how that end relates to the beginning of the next episode. We're also talking a lot in the room about planting seeds that can grow over the course of the season, knowing that people might be watching them in bulk. We'd like to bury some Easter eggs and let people find them, later on.
Why do you like to do shows with female lead characters?
KOHAN: I don't set out to write female lead shows, necessarily. I like deeply flawed characters. When they come to me, or when I'm introduced to them, I follow the stories and the people, rather than setting out to do a female lead thing. Weeds was a one-line pitch that was, "Suburban widow, drug-dealing mom." I was like, "This is something good!" And when I read Piper Kerman's book, I thought, "This is a way into a really interesting world. It's the yuppie's eye view to get you in there." If you go to a network and say, "I wanna do prison stories about black women and Latino women and old women," you're not gonna make a sale. But, if you've got this blonde girl going to prison, you can get in there, and then you can tell all the stories. I just thought it was a terrific gateway drug into all the things I wanted to get into.
Why did the book appeal to you?
KOHAN: I fell in love with the story and I fell in love with the people she talked about in the book. Also, women in prison has always been a trope and an appealing thing. It was like, "Why hasn't this been done yet? This should be out there."
How did you originally come across the book?
KOHAN: A friend of mine sent me the book. She knew Piper and she knows me, and she was like, "You'll really like this." And then, I went after it and had to talk Piper into letting me do it. But, I screwed up the interview. She came in and I was supposed to sell myself on why I should do this. Instead, the entire time, I was like, "Well, what happened to this character? Do you still know her? What are the toilets like?" Apparently, because I had all these questions and I was enthusiastic, that's what made her say yes to me. Other people were like, "I've done this, and I've done that," but I didn't even get to that part 'cause I was mostly interested in the narrative. We just got along. It's an amazing story. It's a way in, where we can follow Piper, and then expand the world and tell all these different stories.
How actively involved is Piper Kerman?
KOHAN: Piper reads the scripts, and we email a lot. Most of her comments are on the more technical side, like "This wouldn't happen. This is against the rules." She's been extremely respectful of our taking her story, and then veering left with it and taking it in its own direction. But, I always want her involved because she's the mother of all this. KOHAN: We did tons of research. We went to visit a prison. We had speakers. We have read tons of supplementary material, books and articles. We are constantly emailing articles around the writers' room. We have dipped ourselves in prison culture and lore and media, and the experience and the people. We really want to be as informed as possible.
Aside from this being based on a memoir, what other kind of research did you do, in regard to what prison life is like?
KOHAN: The oppression of it, the sense of helplessness, and really being part of a system and a bureaucracy that is arbitrary. I never thought of the depth of losing your freedom and what that meant. And I was surprised and delighted by ways people maintain their humanity and try to survive.
What has most surprised you about the prison experience, that you didn't know before you started this project?
KOHAN: You want everyone to be a full character. No one is just evil, or very few people are, hopefully. They're characters, so you want to flush them out. You've got to show all sides of them. There is definitely an antagonistic relationship between guards and prisoners, and I do think it flares up. It's something we may address more in Season 2. With Season 1, I was really more concerned about having full characters, as opposed to just villains.
What went into your decision to make the guards a lot nicer on the show than they are in the memoir?
KOHAN: It was enormously challenging because you want that all-American girl, but you also want the cool WASP, privileged white girl. Usually, women in that package aren't funny, and Taylor is. She's actually a hot girl who can do comedy, which is like a unicorn. We found a unicorn. She has this beautiful, pristine exterior, and she's got depth and range. There were a lot of people who auditioned, and she was just the whole package. We found ourselves making compromises in our head, as people came in. We were like, "She was really good, but a little too old." You get shallow, at a certain point in the casting. I wanted that Americana ice queen for Piper, and Taylor was just a Christmas miracle.

How challenging was it to find the right actress for Piper, and what was it about Taylor Schilling that made you decide on her?
KOHAN: Laura Prepon. She set the bar, when she auditioned for Piper. She's such a great actress, but ultimately, I thought, "Laura Prepon in prison? I don't worry about her." There's a toughness and a presence to her that wasn't right for the character. But, she was so kick-ass that it was like, "Where are we gonna put Laura Prepon? Let's figure it out." And she became Alex. A lot of the other characters came out of auditions. Abigail Savage, who plays Gina, in the kitchen, auditioned for Alex. And then, Alysia Reiner, who plays Fig, the assistant warden, auditioned for everything. When the warden part came up, she didn't even audition because I was like, "The one with the face. Just put her in it." You remember performances, and there was some mixing and matching from the auditions. This wealth of talent that we were able to tap into, just be virtue of the fact that they're so under-utilized, we can really excited about and wanted to create more parts for different people that we fell in love with, in casting.
Were there any actors that came in for a role that weren't right for that role, but you wrote them something else?
KOHAN: Even during the casting process, the pools of talent are so deep when you have a call for Latin women or black women or a middle-aged woman because they never get their shot. There's so much talent there. We watched these auditions and could only pick one. Sometimes we would add new characters 'cause we wanted to use another actress. There were so many people who were just waiting for something like this. The stories are great and the characters are interesting. I don't know why you don't see more of it. It's a missed opportunity. They're not shopping, and they're not talking about the guys they're fucking. They're people. Yeah, they're incarcerated, but it's hard to find these crossroads where you can bring in all these different groups and have them all in the same place. I'm always looking for a nexus, where you can put all these diverse people together, see how they respond to one another, see what they learn about each other, and what they like and don't like.
What's it like to get to explore so many different types of women, who are so under-explored on TV?
KOHAN: We fell in love with different people. Looking back, we might have done it in a different order, but we got invested. We really wanted to do the flashbacks because we wanted to explore who these women were on the outside versus the inside, and get a fuller picture of the masks we wear. Also, this is our lives for a huge part of the year and we did not want to be in prison, 24/7. It was too oppressive. So, we were like, "How can we get out? Let's see their lives, a little bit." That was really fun.
Did you have a plan for whose backstories you wanted to explore more than others?
KOHAN: Yeah, there are a bunch. I want to look into Black Cindy and Lorna and Yoga Jones, who told us a story, but you don't see it. There are so many. Next season, I'd love to bring in new characters, just so we can tell these stories that we want to tell, if it's not through someone already there. It's a great control, for the production. It's like, "If you don't behave, you could get out of prison." Everyone has to be nice.
Is there anyone you didn't get to explore as deeply in Season 1, that you'd like to get to in Season 2?
KOHAN: First of all, I find everything funny, which is upsetting to my children sometimes, and to people in my life, in general. I think shows that are completely dramatic are a lie. People use humor to cope. That is how we deal with things. In the darkest situations, there's humor. And if you don't show that, you're not being true to real life. I think it would be exhausting and depressing, to write, to watch and to live, if it was just focused on drama. It's heavy. Also, I think the humor really highlights the pathos and the struggle. You can slam it up against drama, and it makes both shine. You spend so much of your life crafting this stuff that you want to laugh in the room. I don't want to sit there and slit my wrists. And I think it reflects reality. People use humor to survive, even in the most horrific situations.
Knowing that you would be telling a story set in prison, why did you decide to make the show funny?
KOHAN: I want more fucking, everywhere. That's one of my things. It expresses everything. It's comfort, it's release, it's brutality, it's companionship. It's so many things. We're all doing it. We're all thinking about it. We don't see it enough. Part of it is a dance with the actors 'cause it's very vulnerable for them to do it. But if I had my way, there would be so much more, in everything. It's so vital and integral in life, and it should be reflected in what we're watching, if we're reflecting our experiences. And it's hot. I love the sex stuff, and I want more.
How did you decide how much sex you would include, and what was it like to get your actors to do graphic sex scenes?
KOHAN: Jodie Foster has a project at Showtime. They bought some project that she pitched. And she's a really smart woman, so she said, "I've never done TV. I don't know how this goes." She actually came to us and said, "Can I try? I'm about to go off and do this, so I wanna see what it's like." And when Jodie Foster wants to do your show, you say yes. She was awesome. It was a little bit of a transition for her 'cause television shooting is different from movies. It's more collaborative for the director. But, I do think she really got a sense of how it goes, or at least how it goes in my camp. Hopefully, she'll carry that over to whatever she's doing.
How did Jodie Foster end up directing an episode?
KOHAN: I begged her to write a song and she said yes. I am a huge Regina Spektor fan. I think she's a genius and just a lovely soul, and I wanted her voice on it. And she agreed, which is just the coolest thing, ever. She knocked it out of the park.
How did the Regina Spektor theme song come about?
KOHAN: I think my immediate reaction was, "I'm so tired. I need a little more time." But, it was very quickly followed up by excitement. It's very flattering, and it's a wonderful vote of confidence. We dream of getting to do what we do.
What was your reaction when you found out that you'd already been picked up for Season 2?
KOHAN: Oh, my god, I can stretch this shit out for years! There's no question. We looked at the first season, and I think we covered four months. I can keep going. I can go off with other characters. I have no problem with that. We could go for 10 seasons on this, if need be. As long as there are still interesting stories and still interesting people that we want to meet, I can keep it going. But, we all have to be invested. If the room starts getting bored or I start getting restless, then we'll either have to change something in the show or maybe end it. But, I like the challenge of, "How can we stretch this out? Where can we go with it?" It's an open road, especially at Netflix. You can take it anywhere you want.
How many seasons can you realistically stretch this story out for?
KOHAN: I have a pilot at HBO, right now, and I'm developing some other shows that I'm not quite ready to talk about. I keep busy. You've gotta make hay while the sun shines. There's an expiration date on all of this stuff, so it's like, "All right, let's see what I can get going." But at some point, I need to rest a little bit. I just don't know when that's going to be.
Beyond this show, what are you looking to do next?

Orange is the New Black is available on Netflix on July 11 th.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Creator Jenji Kohan Talks ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, Her Research Into Prison Life, and Graphic Sex Scenes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From Emmy Award-winner Jenji Kohan, creator of the hit comedy series , comes the 13-episode dramedy, Orange is the New Black , available through Netflix on July 11 th.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Unlike last year and the year before, when I binge-watched the newly release seasons of Orange is the New Black in a weekend, this year I have a seven-month-old baby and I'm behind on my pop culture. So when my friend texted me saying, " OITNB Season 4 is emotional torture porn," I had no idea what she was talking about.

"The worst thing that could possibly happen happens," she said.

"What?" I asked. "Does Poussey die?" Pick an outlandishly terrible worst-case scenario, and whatever the bad news really is, it won't seem quite so awful.

"Yes," she said.

I raced through all the stages of grief in five seconds flat: denial, frantic Googling, anger, vaguebooking, depression, and finally I arrived at the final stage, known as Fuck This Shit.

"Well, I'm not going to watch it," I replied.

That quickly and that easily, I walked away from what has been one of my favorite television shows since 2013. And judging from my Facebook and Twitter feeds, I made the right choice by not subjecting myself to this season, which, by all accounts, hit a new low of trauma voyeurism .

I haven't watched a minute of Season 4, and I don't intend to. I don't have an opinion on whether Poussey's death was handled with sensitivity or whether it was tasteless and exploitative. I don't know whether Jenji Kohan achieved her goal of making an artistic statement about Black Lives Matter. All I know is I will not turn on my television and watch a queer Black woman die.

LGBTQ people, especially women, have been crying out for months against the disproportionate death rate of gay and bi women on the small screen. The death of Lexa on The 100 marked a breaking point for many LGBTQ viewers, who are now demanding real accountability and change, but so far TV isn't delivering. Every showrunner has a reason for killing off a queer character, whether it's to raise awareness or as a necessary catalyst for another character's development or because "everyone dies" or whatever. No one intends to participate in the Bury Your Gays trope, yet somehow gay and bi women end up on the chopping block more often than they should. People of color also tend to be especially mortal onscreen-there's a reason "the black guy dies first" has become a running joke in horror movies. Poussey, uniquely vulnerable at the intersection of these two marginalized communities, is the person most likely to be seen as dispensable, but she's also the one the show-and the viewers-can least do without.

There aren't enough LGBTQ characters on television, much less dynamic, complex LGBTQ characters who don't just exist as props for straight people. There are even fewer LGBTQ characters of color. I couldn't say, off the top of my head, how many Black lesbian characters played by Black lesbian actors are currently on TV, but it sure as hell isn't so many that we can spare one.

And Poussey Washington isn't just any character. Portrayed with grace and heart and an absolutely dazzling smile by Samira Wiley, Poussey was the emotional center of Orange is the New Black, at least for me (and pretty much every queer woman I know). She was funny and complicated and smart and honest and drank too much and wanted more than anything to be loved. She was gay and Black and androgynous and real. She resonated with viewers the way privileged white femme Piper, for all that she was supposed to be an audience surrogate, never did. Poussey helped at least one queer woman I know come to terms with the intricacies of her own orientation. She was the character you either wanted to be, date, or be best friends with.

For LGBTQ viewers, queer characters who are believable and well-rounded are so rare that when we come across one, we see them as a friend, as a real and necessary component of our lives. Every time one is taken away, it is a genuine loss, and every one of us has already lost too much.

Sure, the people who make Orange is the New Black didn't know that this spring, the simmering resentment of LGBTQ women toward the televised lesbian death epidemic would come to a boil. They didn't know that every time a lesbian or bi character died after Lexa, it would feel like another grain of salt in a wound that never has time to close. They also didn't know that this season would air only a week after the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. in more than a century, a shooting whose targets were mostly LGBTQ people of color, and that watching a Black lesbian character die on screen would be freshly traumatizing to a community still in shock.

But they certainly knew that Orange is the New Black would be released in a world where racism and homophobia and violence permeate the very air we breathe. If the new season hadn't coincided with the Pulse shooting or the murder of Black trans woman Goddess Diamond, it would have been something else. The trauma of endless news stories about violence against LGBTQ people and people of color never has a chance to get old, to fade into memory. And the writers and producers knew that. They knew how much viewers loved and related to Poussey, and how much losing her would hurt, on top of all the other pain we navigate daily. Causing that pain was a deliberate choice.

I understand the rationale behind the death-to exemplify in one shocking incident the racism and dehumanization inherent in the prison industrial complex. But that's what Orange is the New Black has been doing for four seasons now-was it really necessary to add the graphic, on-screen death of a beloved character on top of every other piece of evidence the show has offered that this country's prison system is unconscionable? I'd argue that it's not. We've seen senseless death before on this show (most notably the death of Tricia, another lesbian). We've seen violence, alienation, rejection, racism, transphobia, homophobia, and the absolute erasure of identity. Anyone who's been watching Orange since season 1 without understanding that mass incarceration is the Big Bad isn't paying attention, and Poussey's death will not be the thing that finally jolts them awake. Anyone who was unmoved by the death of, and subsequent lack of justice for, Eric Garner is unlikely to be heartbroken by the same thing happening to Poussey. To those who are numb to violence against LGBTQ and Black bodies, Poussey's death will not be a catalyst for enlightenment; it will simply be another plot point-one that comes at the expense of re-traumatizing marginalized people.

"I'm like, legitimately fucked up over that whole season and especially [Poussey's death]," says my friend Sarah, who is Black and queer. "Like triggered fucked up. Like my 17-year-old and I were sobbing audibly and shaking while watching it. I don't know how to feel about that, that kind of mirror of what we already experience as fear in our day to day lives."

No one who already lives with this horror needs to see it again, in full color and vivid sound, on their TV. I don't know if Jenji Kohan imagined that her viewing audience is solely composed of clueless, privileged white people who will respond to Poussey's death by saying "Wow, I never thought about it that way, I guess prison is bad!" But as far as I can tell, the people who have been watching and taking comfort in Orange is the New Black all this time are marginalized people who already experience enough violence, vicariously and firsthand, just by existing in the world.

This could have been avoided. There are ways to engage with violence and trauma through art without re-violating and re-traumatizing viewers. Black-ish had an episode about Black Lives Matter that was nuanced, thoughtful, and featured no onscreen deaths. Jessica Jones explores the long-term effects of PTSD, abuse, and rape without including graphic sexual violence (something else Orange indulges in too frequently). It's possible to use media to tackle pressing current events and political issues, but any attempt to do so must prioritize the safety and well-being of those in danger over the opportunity to shock the complacently privileged.

Simply put: If a Black lesbian has to die onscreen so that straight white people will reach a political epiphany, that, for me, is too high a price to pay. I already know the kind of violence white supremacy and homophobia can wreak on LGBTQ people of color (the victims of the vast majority of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes are not white). I don't need to consume images of that violence for my entertainment, my education, or any other reason.

LGBTQ people are hungry enough for representation that we'll watch shows and movies brimming with hurtful tropes just to see someone who we can relate to getting a little airtime. Showrunners know this, and they exploit it, using LGBTQ characters as fodder for shocking plot twists because they know we have nowhere else to go. But I'm done. If Orange is the New Black and its ilk are the only game in town, I'm taking my ball and going home. I believe Poussey deserved better. I think we all do.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why I'm Not Watching Season 4 of "Orange is the New Black" - AfterEllen

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Unlike last year and the year before, when I binge-watched the newly release seasons of Orange is the New Black in a weekend, this year I have a seven-month-old baby and I'm behind on my pop culture. So when my friend texted me saying, " OITNB Season 4 is emotional torture porn," I had no idea what she was talking about.

# data[].attributes.headline
How many people watched the premiere of Season 4?

# data[].attributes.subject
How many people watched the premiere of Season 4?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
By

One of TV's greatest secrets has been revealed: We now know how many people watched an episode of one of Netflix's shows. The Season 4 premiere of Orange Is the New Black drew 6.7 million viewers in its first 72 hours online, according to viewership data from Nielsen, The Wall Street Journal reports. Nielsen's data also showed that viewership for the second episode decreased to 5.9 million viewers.

The data, which covers the time period from June 17 to June 19, is somewhat surprising because previous estimates of Netflix viewership done by other entities have been refuted by the streaming service, which has long kept its tallies secret. These new numbers are considered reputable though, not only because of Nielsen's credibility but also because the data giant's findings were backed by Lionsgate, the studio that produces Orange Is the New Black.

To measure ratings, Nielsen used the audio fingerprinting technology available in its base of 40,000 U.S. homes. That technology recognizes audio files that studios provide of their programs.
Orange Is the New Black's Samira Wiley on Season 4's devastating end
Major networks have frequently questioned Netflix's actual viewership - wondering aloud if the service is as much of a challenger to traditional TV as analysts (and the public) have asserted. As reports, Orange Is the New Black's premiere would have been the second-most watched cable show the week it debuted. Game of Thrones' June 19 episode netted 10.4 million total viewers, and the June 13 premiere of TNT's Major Crimes came in second place with 5.8 million viewers.

The research is part of a larger partnership between Nielsen and TV studios that choose to opt-in to track viewership across streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. It should be noted that while Nielsen's numbers lend credence to the idea Netflix shows don't rank much higher than most cable fare, this data point is only important to U.S. viewership. Netflix also released Orange Is the New Black globally on the same day.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
We Finally Know How Many People Watched Orange Is the New Black

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By One of TV's greatest secrets has been revealed: We now know how many people watched an episode of one of Netflix's shows. The Season 4 premiere of Orange Is the New Black drew 6.7 million viewers in its first 72 hours online, according to viewership data from Nielsen, The Wall Street Journal reports.

# data[].attributes.headline
Awards and Nominations for Orange is the New Black

# data[].attributes.subject
Awards and Nominations for Orange is the New Black

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Orange Is the New Black Awards and Nominations

# data[].attributes.body
Episode 12 reenacts the Eric Garner case through the death of character Poussey. Here are the details on the Eric Garner case:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Justice Department has replaced the New York team of agents and lawyers investigating the death of Eric Garner, officials said, a highly unusual shake-up that could jump-start the long-stalled case and put the government back on track to seek criminal charges.

Mr. Garner, 43, died in 2014 on a Staten Island street corner, where two police officers confronted him and accused him of selling untaxed cigarettes. One of the officers, Daniel Pantaleo, was seen on a video using a chokehold, prohibited by the New York Police Department, to subdue him. Mr. Garner's last words, "I can't breathe," became a rallying cry for protesters around the country.

Federal authorities have been investigating whether officers violated Mr. Garner's civil rights in his fatal encounter with the police. But the case had been slowed by a dispute because federal prosecutors and Federal Bureau of Investigation officials in New York opposed bringing charges, while prosecutors with the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department in Washington argued there was clear evidence to do so.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, who as the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York oversaw the beginning of the federal inquiry before her appointment to Washington, has been considering for months how to proceed.

In recent weeks, the F.B.I. agents who have been investigating the case were replaced with agents from outside New York, according to five federal officials in New York and Washington. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are no longer assigned to the case. It is not clear whether civil rights prosecutors from Washington will work alone in presenting evidence to a grand jury in Brooklyn and in trying the case if charges are eventually brought.

Image

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch has been considering how to proceed in a civil rights inquiry into the death of Mr. Garner. Credit Andrew Harnik/Associated Press

The officials who described the reorganization did so on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Mr. Garner's death, followed by the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and several other high-profile deadly police encounters across the country, prompted nationwide protests over how and when officers use force, particularly against black men. Though the Justice Department has required police departments to stop unconstitutional practices and retrain officers, it has rarely brought charges against individual officers in deadly encounters.

To do so in the Garner case, prosecutors must persuade a grand jury that a crime occurred. Normally, that is all but guaranteed and an indictment follows. But Officer Pantaleo's testimony helped persuade a state grand jury on Staten Island not to bring charges in December 2014. Any decision on charges in the federal case is probably months away, officials said.

The Justice Department and the F.B.I. did not comment.

Stuart London, a lawyer for Officer Pantaleo, said that he had maintained he never violated anyone's civil rights. "This was always a simple street encounter where Officer Pantaleo utilized his N.Y.P.D. training to subdue an individual," Mr. London said.

He added: "If it is true that the Justice Department is rejecting the recommendations of seasoned F.B.I. agents and assistant United States attorneys, this is a gross miscarriage of justice. In our system of justice, politics should never take the place of the rule of law."

Officer Pantaleo was stripped of his badge and gun two days after Mr. Garner's death, and he has remained on desk duty. But as is typical in such cases, departmental hearings that could lead to his dismissal have been delayed during the criminal investigations.

For Mayor Bill de Blasio, the slow pace of the investigation has allowed the Garner case to linger, a reminder of a flash point during his tenure and a sign of his struggle to balance his pledge to champion criminal justice reform with the practical realities of overseeing the country's largest local police force.

The changes by federal officials, while reigniting the investigation, also signal a difficult road ahead. Prosecuting police officers is difficult even when investigators agree about the strength of the case. In the Garner case, the Justice Department is moving forward knowing that a team of agents and prosecutors believes the case should not be brought. If it goes to trial, defense lawyers would probably try to exploit that division and use it to sow doubt. They could even try to call F.B.I. agents who were taken off the case as defense witnesses, officials said.

Another complicating factor, according to three federal officials, is that the disagreement between Washington and New York is reflected in the F.B.I. reports, which often become evidence at trial.

These disputes have significantly slowed the investigation. Since Mr. Garner's death, the Justice Department has opened and completed investigations into fatal police encounters in Ferguson; north Minneapolis; North Charleston, S.C.; and Cleveland. Each was closed except the North Charleston case, which led to federal charges against the officer for shooting an unarmed man in the back as he fled.

The Garner case, though, has dragged on. Two years ago, when Eric H. Holder Jr. was attorney general, he told colleagues that the evidence made clear that the Justice Department should bring charges, according to a former department official. Prosecutors might lose, he said, but the government had to bring the case. Career civil rights prosecutors agreed.

Prosecutors in New York, though, strongly disagreed with that analysis. The dispute hinged on whether Officer Pantaleo intended to violate Mr. Garner's civil rights. Officer Pantaleo has said he did not mean to put Mr. Garner in a chokehold. The officer said he tried to use a maneuver that involved hooking an arm underneath one of Mr. Garner's arms while wrapping the other around his torso. During the struggle, Officer Pantaleo said he feared he would be pushed through a storefront window behind him.

Prosecutors and F.B.I. agents in New York argued that video captured by a bystander supported Officer Pantaleo's account. Civil rights prosecutors in Washington disagreed, saying it showed evidence of willful wrongdoing.

Attorney General Lynch came into office last year in the middle of that dispute. She has a reputation for being deferential to prosecutors in the field rather than dictating from Washington. But she has also heavily relied on the advice of her civil rights prosecutors, who are more removed from the local police departments that they investigate.

Correction:

Because of an editing error, an article on Tuesday about a decision by the Justice Department to replace its team of agents and lawyers in New York who were investigating the death of Eric Garner misidentified the location of another case it investigated involving a fatal police encounter. It occurred in north Minneapolis, not in Falcon Heights, Minn.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: U.S. Overhauls Team Handling Chokehold Case. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Justice Dept. Shakes Up Inquiry Into Eric Garner Chokehold Case

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Justice Department has replaced the New York team of agents and lawyers investigating the death of Eric Garner, officials said, a highly unusual shake-up that could jump-start the long-stalled case and put the government back on track to seek criminal charges.

# data[].attributes.body
This video is a clip of the peaceful protest the women at Litchfield tried to conduct but ended fatally. This scene allows viewers to connect with the recent protesting in the news.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
R.I.P. Poussey... Orange Is the New Black, is the best show... but so damn sad. Had to kill off one of the best character's. --- IF THIS SPOILED ANYTHING FOR YOU.. I DON'T CARE. NOBODY PUT A GUN TO YOUR HEAD AND MADE YOU WATCH THIS.

# data[].attributes.body
Images of scenes mentionded in my essay from episode 12 and 13

# data[].attributes.headline
The analysis of episodes 12 and 13 of this Netflix original series. These episodes serve as prime examples of a hybrid genre and correlates to current issues in society today. 

# data[].attributes.subject
The analysis of episodes 12 and 13 of this Netflix original series. These episodes serve as prime examples of a hybrid genre and correlates to current issues in society today. 